Thirty-Two - Ultear Milkovich

Ultear was a bit frustrated. For a little while, Siegrain had been hanging out with her a lot. As Vice President of the Student Council, she had a lot of opportunities to spend time with him. Things had been going great. But he had been growing more distant recently.

She could tell he was plotting something, but he wouldn't let her in on the plan, which was highly unusual. She wanted to talk to Jellal and ask if he knew anything, but Jellal was always out whenever she was over. She knew he was still going to school, albeit begrudgingly, to help Myst, so she decided to track him down then. She spotted him as he turned a corner, so she hurried to catch up. She stopped short, just before rounding the corner, when she heard him speak.

"Headmaster Yajima?" he asked.

That was close, Ultear thought. I can't let Headmaster Yajima catch me skipping class.

"Oh, hello, Jellal," Yajima said.

"Uh, hi," Jellal said. "Oh, but I'm Myst, though."

"Don't be silly, Jellal," Yajima said.

"Um, right," Jellal said nervously. "Why are you here, sir?"

"Ah, I take care of Fairy Hills as a favor while Makarov is gone," he said.

"Oh," Jellal said somberly. "So, will you be headmaster of both schools now?"

"Only until Makarov returns," Yajima said.

"Returns?" Jellal repeated. "Did you not hear what happened? With the plane crash?"

"Ah, yes," Yajima said. "Quite sad. But I have no doubt he will be back on his feet soon."

"Sir?"

"I'm sorry, Jellal," Yajima interrupted. "I must be getting back to Era."

"I'm not Je- Oh, never mind," Jellal said. Ultear peeked around the corner to see Yajima walking off. Jellal began to start walking as well, when Ultear reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him around the corner. "Ah! What?! Why?" he exclaimed.

"Shush," Ultear said. "I need to speak with you."

"Oh, Ultear," he said. "Hello."

"First of all," she started. "Have you been avoiding me? Every time I'm at your house, you're not there."

"No," he said. "I'm not avoiding you. I'm just not at home a lot. And I'm avoiding Sieg."

"Ah," she said. "I'm guessing that means you don't know what he's plotting, then?"

"No," he said warily. "What is he plotting now?"

"I don't know!" she said. "He won't tell me!"

"Well, I suppose I'll help you find out," Jellal said.

"Really?!" she asked. "Thank you!"

-.-.-

A few days later, Ultear, Jellal, and Meredy were sitting in Ultear's living room. Meredy had agreed to help them as well.

"This will be so fun!" Meredy exclaimed. "We can be a secret organization set on taking down evil!"

"Sieg isn't evil per se," Jellal said.

"We'll call ourselves 'Crime Sorciere'!" she went on enthusiastically.

"Why that?" Ultear asked.

Meredy shrugged. "It just sounds cool, I think."

"Okay, whatever," Jellal said. "How should we go about this?"

"Well, he's your brother," Meredy said. "So you are in charge."

"I agree," Ultear said. "Besides, you need something to occupy your time. This is better than moping around wishing you were still in prison."

"I don't wish I was in prison!" he protested.

"But you do think you still need to pay for things you've done?" she asked. "Don't lie. I know that's how you feel."

"But-"

"Perfect!" Meredy interrupted. "After we figure out how to stop whatever evil plan Sieg is up to-"

"He's not-"

"Then we can find other good deeds to do!" she finished, not allowing Jellal to speak. "It'll be the best club ever! And we can make up for stuff we've done in the past."

Jellal gave her a strange look. "What could you have done, Meredy?" he asked.

"You'd be surprised!" she grinned. "Now, let's get to work."